tv_grab_file absolutely not working atall.

Ben F

The output of tv_grab_file is http://pastebin.com/raw/Vi6qam6i and the output given by tvheadend when it runs tv_grab_file is http://pastebin.com/raw/xHzpFg96 so it's obviously picking up something, being only the channels and not the broadcasts, any ideas?

Tom Johnson

Maybe I can help as I had the same issue. l;ook at the tv_grab_file and you'll see a path at the top something like: /home/hts/.hts/xmltv.xml
Make sure whatever path you have that file is pointing to your xmltv.xml file. That's what tells tvheadend which xml file contains your EPG data.

Tom Johnson

The other thing you have to do is to go into configuration, then epg and channels. You have to assign the epg per channel. Depending on how many channels you have, it could take a while. make sure you SAVE before navigating away from that page! Have had to redo it a couple times because I kept forgetting to save!

Ben F

yeah, my tv_grab_file is pointing to the correct file and the channels are assigned.

Tom Johnson

So if you open TVH webpage, there no info in the initial screen? Have you tried under configuration, Channel/EPG, EPG Grabber and unchecking the Force initial EPG scan at startup:, then saving. Then go back and check it again and save again. That should kick it into working, at least it did for me.

Ben F

I've tried this and still nothing, issue is that tvheadend isnt picking up the broadcasts:


2016-08-22 19:10:50.634 spawn: Executing "/usr/bin/tv_grab_file"
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file: grab took 0 seconds
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file: parse took 0 seconds
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file:   channels   tot=    2 new=    2 mod=    2
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file:   brands     tot=    0 new=    0 mod=    0
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file:   seasons    tot=    0 new=    0 mod=    0
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file:   episodes   tot=    0 new=    0 mod=    0
2016-08-22 19:10:50.638 /usr/bin/tv_grab_file:   broadcasts tot=    0 new=    0 mod=    0

Tom Johnson

What are you using to get the xmltv.xml file? I ended up using zap2xml and it worked great. Try disabling the grab fiel, save, then re-enable and save See if that gets it to read it.

Tom Johnson

This is what my channel settings look like.

Ben F

This is what my, I only have 2 configured atm, channels look like: !epg-channels.png!

Tom Johnson

Well, that looks right. So the grabber is actually seeing the channels. Have you tried restarting tvheadend?

Ben F

Yep, multiple times! it just looks like tvheadend doesn't like reading the shows from my xmltv file. It's generated using Webgrab+plus. It must work with tvheadend as they have their own instructions for wg++ on linux and using it with tvheadend, their own grabber (tv_grab_wg++) is basically just a clone of tv_grab_file.

Tom Johnson

Yeah that's weird. Make sure the file is chown hts:video (I assume you used defaults). If not, make sure it matches the other file ownership in the dir. I doubt that's it since your epg source is showing correctly. Here is what my xmltv file looks like for a comparison:

<tv source-info-url="http://tvschedule.zap2it.com/" source-info-name="zap2it.com
" generator-info-name="zap2xml" generator-info-url="zap2xml@gmail.com">
        <channel id="I21230.labs.zap2it.com">
                <display-name>WMARDT</display-name>
                <display-name>2.1 WMARDT</display-name>
                <display-name>2.1</display-name>
                <icon src="http://images.zap2it.com/station_logo/abc_affiliate.g
if" />
        </channel>
        <channel id="I43979.labs.zap2it.com">
                <display-name>WMARDT2</display-name>
                <display-name>2.2 WMARDT2</display-name>
                <display-name>2.2</display-name>
                <icon src="http://images.zap2it.com/station_logo/wmardt2.gif" />
        </channel>
 <programme start="20160822070000 -0400" stop="20160822090000 -0400" chan
nel="I21230.labs.zap2it.com">
                <title lang="en">Good Morning America</title>
                <desc lang="en">Tyler Perry; Old Dominion.</desc>
                <date>20160822</date>
                <category lang="en">News</category>
                <category lang="en">Series</category>
                <episode-num system="dd_progid">EP00001893.7602</episode-num>
                <video>
                        <aspect>16:9</aspect>
                        <quality>HDTV</quality>
                </video>
                <new />
                <subtitles type="teletext" />
        </programme>

Tom Johnson

The other thing to check is to make sure your xmltv file is world readable.

Ben F

world readable?

EDIT: duh, one sec.

Tom Johnson

Yep. chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r on your xmltv file.

Ben F

It is world readable.

Tom Johnson

One last item to check...is your tv_grab_file executable? Probably is, but never hurts to check it all. Beyond that I really don't know what else could be the issue. Sounds like everything is set up correctly.

Ben F

yep it is.